“I think it’s going to be, honestly, an adjustment period,” Garnett said. “I think now that we know what the reality part of it is, it’s something that Rondo’s not coming through the door saying, ‘Ta-da.’ It’s what it is. Until that settles in, I can’t answer that truthfully and honestly. But right now, it’s up in the air. But we’ll see soon. This is a different group. We’ll see soon. We’ll see how we react to all of it.”

All of us are wondering what will this team look like? The Celtics are taking this thing day by day. What else can you do. The talent is still here, minus the best player on the team. But it's about the system. It's a team first system, and can that work against the Heat, and Knicks without Rondo?

“The chips are really stacked up against us when you don’t have your best player out there, but it’s time to give other guys opportunities to step up and elevate their game, and I know they’re capable of doing it.”

Playing time and rotations will change without Rondo and his 37.4 minutes per game, but the goals — the ones the Celts had veered from — will not.

“We have a system, and it’s ran a certain way,” said Garnett. “It’s predicated for when guys are in and predicated for when guys are out. As long as you run the system the way it’s supposed to go, it’s not perfect, but it never skips a beat.

“It’s when we get to doing things individual and not doing things as a whole and not doing things as a team that we find ourselves struggling sometimes or not making adjustments or whatever it may be.”

I'm not over Rondo being gone. It still hasn't fully set in. I wake up every morning like nothing happened, and then it hits again. But I'm starting to look forward to what's ahead.

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2 Comments

I'm so torn about this situation. I know the team will play better without Rondo. It hurts to say that, but I know it's true. I know that on some karmic level, this had to happen, because Rondo just wasn't stepping up, and his teammates clearly didn't like playing with him, and weren't supporting his leadership. But it will be hard to listen to the Haters crowing the rest of the season, and then it will be hard waiting to see if Rondo can rebuild his career, and as a fan of Rondo, will he stop doing the bad things that made him so ineffective as a leader this season? If you demand control of the team, you have a responsibility to lead well. You can't be passive, and inconsistent, and unfocused, and above all, you can't be a magic turnstyle on defense.

So I know this team will play much better without Rondo, and I think they actually have a better shot at a championship now. What I said about Allen this summer, that his loss was a gain for the team, is truer about Rondo, I think. What a season this could have been if Rondo had stepped up. Then again, it will be a great season now. You can see it in KG's determination, and we know that Bradley is chomping at the bit. No one is happier right now than Bradley, Terry and Lee. Those guys won't say it, but they feel like they just got out of detention.

What a miserable season this has been if you are a Rondo fan. And now a year of waiting while Haters party on. But I don't think number 18 is out of the question, and I think this team may play some great basketball. It's clear that KG is dialed in now.

But if will be a year of listening to the Haters crow, and a year of wondering if Rondo will ever be back, and a year of wondering if he will have learned anything. What we saw from Rondo this season was a seminar on how to squander opportunity. How to be stubborn precisely when you shouldn't be, and how to not be stubborn precisely when you should be. The whole basketball world was begging Rondo to play more consistently, to be tougher on defense, to push more and get other folks involved more on offense, and so on, and he just wouldn't listen. And now it's all this. A third of the fans and maybe two or three of the players seem genuinely sad that he is down for the season, but most of the players (though they won't say it) and many of the fans (who are only too happy to say it), and most of the media (though they won't say it) are gleeful about it.

But this team is going to be better without Rondo, a lot better. I don't think there is any question about it.

Sadly I do agree with you Paul. My only hope is that Rondo comes back next season with a MUCH greater grasp of what it will take to lead this team properly. That is all ask.

But really, like you have stated, it is up to Doc and Rondo to create a much more efficient system for the players at hand. It is not necessary for Rondo to dominate the ball like he was when we have guys like Green, Lee, and JET. It's all in the ball movement and especially moving without the ball. I believe Rondo can be extremely effective off the ball getting back door cuts and hitting open mid range jumps shots.

And not only for the fact of sharing the ball handling for our other guards, but Rondo DOES NOT need to be conserving his energy like he was on defense. It was pretty embarrassing at times watching Rondo get beat off the dribble over and over. Every player on every possession needs to be locked in 100% on defense. Period. No questions asked.